Marcus Smith expects to win championships

In a surprise move for many Louisville fans who were still waiting to hear Teddy’s name called, the Philadelphia Eagles selected Marcus Smith with the 26th overall pick in the first round Thursday night.

Head Coach Chip Kelly, who spoke with former UofL head man Charlie Strong leading up to the draft, said Strong gave him rave reviews about Smith. In an interview with philadelpiaeagles.com, Kelly went on to say, “He’s got speed coming off the edge. We thought adding a pass rusher was a big thing for us. I think a young kid to bring in behind Trent [Cole] and Connor [Barwin] and those guys can teach him the ropes and bring him along and show him what we can do. But I think his ceiling is very, very high. We’re excited. He’s a tough, hard‑nosed football player.”

Marcus Smith says he had a feeling he would go in the first round but realistically expected to go somewhere in the second or even third round. Marcus says he was at a sports bar in Louisville Thursday night when Philadelphia called him to say he was about to be drafted. “… I didn’t even let my family know who I was talking to. I just let (my) name be called so they could be surprised.” Marcus went on to discuss his expectations with philadelphiaeagles.com. “My expectations in Philadelphia are to win championships. I want to come in and help right away. If they need me to do anything – if it’s special teams, if it’s going to rush the passer or if it’s just playing on first and second down, or just playing on third down I’ll do whatever you need me to do to try and help the organization win. I know one thing about the Eagles is that they’re on the rise and we’re going to be a winning team.”